Alex Becerra approaches painting with the aim to summon bodily responses, enrolling the viewer in an experience that links vision with the emotional body. Using oil paint in copious quantities, Becerra builds dense surfaces and pictures with raucous color, gesture, and images. Often, Becerra’s paintings have an element of montage; many moments in time are layered into a single painting, reflecting the cacophonous and disjointed scroll and distractions of contemporary life. His works evoke a history of modern European painting—specifically German Neo-expressionism—as well as the aesthetic and cultural iconography of Mexican American lowrider culture. This broad range of references and interpretations reflects Becerra’s position as a Los Angeles artist weaving together the lived experiences of this vibrant environment and a deep investment in grappling with the historical stakes of painting, in tandem with the shifting values of contemporary art.